Kenney Shields Park in Covington will be getting temporary (but long-term) basketball courts following a vote Tuesday night from the Covington Board of Commissioners. The commissioners also voted to create a temporary walking path to augment the new courts.
Kenney Shields Park is located in Covington’s Mainstrasse neighborhood and has been a community landmark for years, not only for pickup basketball games but also for futsal and other group sports played on a solid surface. The new temporary courts are slated to go in where the old tennis courts used to be.
The park’s original basketball courts were unexpectedly closed down earlier this year to make room for the Brent Spence Corridor Project, much to the chagrin of nearby residents.
“The interstate is expanding in that area,” said Mayor Ron Washington last week. “The current basketball courts came down, surprised the neighborhood – they kind of surprised us, too – without notice. This was always in the plans to put up a temporary court. The neighborhood, rightfully so, was upset.”
“When we say temporary, it’s not going to be there for three months, it’s going to be there for several years,” said Covington Neighborhood Services Director Brandon Holmes at last week’s board meeting.
Contractor JK Meurer out of Loveland, Ohio, is set to complete the work for $46,875, according to city documents. The state had previously allocated about $75,000 for a temporary court.
Washington said the city would be working with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in the future to avoid similarly unexpected or sudden closures. The “plans” he referred to are the new Goebel Park Master Plan, which you can read about here. Goebel Park, which Kenney Shields Park sits next to, overlaps with the construction area of the corridor project, so the city has been collecting information on how best to plan for the parks’ future.
City documents state the city would like the temporary courts and walking path to be completed by July 1.